Holly Skellington
by PrayerGirl
Summary: Holly is the only child of Jack Skellington, The Pumpkin King ruler of Halloween town and all it's people. She's supposed to be perfect, but she's not. What happens when she meets the TrickorTreater that steals her heart or even her afterlife? PLEASE R
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Come along Holly dear. We don't want to be late for Sandy!" Jack Skellington called to his 20 year old daughter, Holly. "Sandy is expecting us!"

"Alright dad, I'm coming!" Holly called back to her overly excited father. He always got this excited around Christmas time. Other than Halloween, Christmas was the Skeleton's favorite holiday. Holly stepped out of her room at the end of the hallway and headed downstairs. Her mother and father were waiting for her at the door. As she reached them Jack opened the door and ushered both women outside. Then they all followed him through the Hinterland woods till they got to the holiday doors. Jack walked up to the door and opened it. As he did the girls held back. "Mom," Holly asked her mother Sally "do we have to do this?"

"This means a lot to your father and you might find it fun. I did when he first brought me here." Sally told her walking towards Jack.

"I don't think so, but I'll try." Holly half told her mom as her father beckoned for her to join them.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Jack asked his little family. The two girls nodded and Jack pushed Holly in causing her to scream the entire way there. She landed hard on the cold snow with a *thud* then looked up as her father floated down gently with her mother in his arms and landed almost on top of her. She stood as her father put her mother down and wiped of the snow from her cloths. Holly glared at him so fiercely that he almost jumped back. Girl had her father's talent. "Why did you push me?" she demanded.

"I didn't mean to sweet heart. Before your mother and I jumped in I…sort of tripped. Sorry pumpkin." Jack told her giving her an apologetic hug.

She hugged him back saying "That's okay, daddy. I forgive you."

"Well now that that's taken care of let's head to Sandy Claws' house!" Jack pointed in the direction of Santa's work shop and took the lead getting there. As they descended the hill Holly heard the laughter of a jolly soul named Saint Nick. They approached the little town and all the elves looked up at them. Giving Holly the impression that some of them didn't want her family to be here, but as a big shadow walked toward her with a 'HO HO HO' she forgot all about that.

"Jack Skellington! And Sally! Welcome to Christmas town!" Jack shook the big red man's living hand and Sally hugged him. Santa then proceeded to walk over to her. "Is this the same little…" he paused uncomfortably trying clearly not to offend any one. She wasn't just a corpse or just a skeleton. She was a mix of both. "girl I saw so long ago?" he finally finished.

Jack placed his hand around Sally's shoulders and Sally placed her hand on his waist as they walked up to Santa Saying "Why yes it is."

"Why your just as terrifying as your father, but have the beauty of your mother." Santa told her and Holly smiled.

"Thank you mister Claus." Holly said lowering her head to cover her blushing. Santa merely smiled.

"Sandy we've come to help out with the Christmas preparations. If you need anything my family and I are here to help." Jack told Santa happily.

"Why thank you Jack, but call me 'Santa'." Santa asked kindly.

"Of course!" Jack smiled. "What do you need first?"

"Well Jack you can help the elves load the sleigh." Santa informed the Pumpkin King.

"Splendid!" Jack said clapping his hands happily.

"Sally why don't you help the elves in the work shop finish sowing doll clothing." Her mother nodded graciously.

"And Holly, why don't you go stuff Jack-in-the-box's."

"Okay." The three family members split up and went to there stations happy to help. Once she got to her station she found, once again that the elves didn't want her to be there.

And this was proved to her when the head elf walked up to her. "What are you doing here?" he asked snidely.

Because her father would ground her for a month she simply told him "Santa Claus asked me to come and help."

"Well if that's the case why don't you go over there and stuff those Jack-in-the-boxes." He told her almost condescendingly. The little man pointed to a little pile of empty boxes and little Jacks. She nodded and headed toward the pile.

Once there she began to stuff them. "Come on you stupid thing! GET IN THE BOX!" she ordered then suddenly the Jack bounced back and broke all of the snow globes behind her.

The head elf came running up to her "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He demanded. "I DIDN'T TELL YOU TO STUFF THOSE I SAID THOSE!" he pointed to another pile next to her and she smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, but you said these." Holly tried in vain to defend herself, but he sent her out and to Santa's house. She left the work shop feeling the glares of the elves as they cleaned up her little accident. She walked across the snow to Santa's house and knocked on the door.

"Come in." she heard the 'Jolly old elf' say so she entered the house. She found him sitting in his chair looking over a ridiculously long list with a quill in his hand. "Ah Holly, what can I do for you?"

She decided not to sugar coat it and just come strait out and tell him the truth. "Mister Claus, I was trying to stuff Jack-in-the-boxes when one got lose and broke a whole bunch of your snow globes and the elves won't let me back into the work shop."

Santa stayed quiet for a moment or two then smiled at her. "That's alright. Mistakes happen. It was on accident right?"

"Of course!" Holly told him quickly.

"Well then no harm done. Why don't you go help with the candy machine. They always need another pair of hands." Holly looked down at her one stitched hand and the other mostly stitched hand with a bit of her skeleton showing. "Well you know what I mean." Santa said correcting himself. She nodded and headed to the candy room. The candy captain put her on filler duty. All she had to do was switch the leaver from on to off. Not a very hard task right? Wrong. She managed to break the leaver causing a lot of candy to spew every where. The candy captain was so mad at her all he did was point to the door and when she tried to apologize he simply pointed harder. So Holly found herself knocking on Santa's door again. "Come in." she walked in to find him in the same position as she found him in before. "What happened Holly? Your covered in candy!"

"I broke your candy machine." she told him dejectedly.

"Well no harm done." It took Santa a little restraint to tell her this after all she was still a young woman. "It was an accident right?"

"Yes! I'm so sorry! The leaver was stuck so I pulled and I pulled and then it just broke sending candy everywhere! I'm so sorry!" she told him tears welling up in her eyes.

Santa walked over to her and gave her a hug saying "Now, now these things… don't… normally happen, but that just means we haven't found what your good at yet. Why don't you try to put a bow on the presents?" Holly nodded and felt a little better, but then felt bad again when she managed to rip half of the rapping paper in the factory. Santa then sent her to the lickerish shop, but she untangled the tangling machine. And after that, she blew up half the factory. "How did you manage to blow up half of my factory when there wasn't even anything dangerous there?" Santa exclaimed.

"I don't. . . really. . . know." she said sadly.

"Well why don't you go feed the reindeer?" he suggested fighting the thought telling him she would end up breaking one of the reindeer's legs.

Holly nodded slowly then entered the courtyard where the reindeer were being held and walked over to the head elf. "Santa told me to feed them" she said sadly.

"The carrots are over there." The head elf pointed to a barrel full of large orange carrots. "Each reindeer get fed two carrots. Try not to break anything or destroy anything this time!" he added with a snotty attitude and she felt even worse, but this time she wanted to she show this jolly little elf just how much she could _destroy_. Starting with his face! "Oh and don't forget to call them by their names."

"What are their names?" Holly asked confused.

The head elf looked exasperated "Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet Cupid, Donner, Blitzen."

He had said this so fast she hadn't heard a word. "What?"

"They're on the stalls!" he exclaimed then finally left.

"Well here goes, I can do this." she told herself and started her work.

**..::-::..**

Jack met Sally on his way out of the work shop and decided he wanted to hold her hand, so he did. They both walked to Santa's house ready for more instruction. On the way there though, he noticed that there was a small fire in the other part of the factory and part of it was missing. '_What could've happened?_' Jack thought to himself. As they passed the marry-go-round an elf coved in candy and another elf covered in lickerish ran passed them like bats out of hell.

"Oh my!" Sally said "What happened to them?" Jack shrugged as they knocked on Santa's door.

When no reply came he knocked again. When there was still no reply Jack pushed the door open going first incase there was something wrong. "Sandy, Sally and I are done with our tasks. What else would you like us to do?"

They turned the corner to see the head elf, the candy captain, the rapping manager, the lickerish boss and the chief mechanic all talking to Sandy. "Now, now you can't expect her to do everything perfect the first time can you?" Sandy was saying.

"Of course not," the candy captain said "We just didn't expect her to bring so much damage!"

"Yeah!" the lickerish manager said agreeing "Not even that skeleton was this bad. At least he didn't break anything!" Jack and Sally shared a worried looked and Jack decided he didn't want to hear the rest of the conversation so he stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Jack!" Sandy said surprised. "I hope you didn't hear any of that." He asked him worried.

Jack waved it off. "I'm not worried about it, but who were you talking about?"

Sandy and the elves looked at one another until the head elf spoke up "We were talking about your daughter." Jack and Sally looked taken back at how rudely the elf had answered them.

"Has she done something wrong?" he asked ignoring the glares the other elves gave them.

"Well actually-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!" They all raced out the door to see all eight reindeer casing Holly across Christmas Town with their antlers facing her back.

"HOLLY!" Sally and Jack called out at the same time. They both raced after her with the elves close behind.

"STOP!" Sandy demanded and the reindeer suddenly stopped in their tracks then turned to look at him. Jack and Sally caught up with their daughter just as Sandy and the elves did too.

"Holly, what happened?" Jack asked his panting daughter.

"I-was-trying-to-feed them-when my-hand-fell-off and frightened them." She stammered in between breaths. "I-don't know-why it came-off. I didn't untie it. It must have snagged on something. When the reindeer saw my hand try to come back to me they just started charging at me."

"Well at least you're okay." Sally told her hugging her fiercely.

"That's just great that a person that's _already_ dead is fine when Christmas Town is in shambles!" the head elf snapped and both Sandy and Jack glared at him.

"I'll help clean up. It's the least I can do." Holly offered

"NO!" all the elves cried.

"Holly perhaps it's better if you just go sit down by the Halloween holiday door and wait for us." Jack told her as sweetly as he could, but her face fell and it drove knives into his back. Holly nodded, stood up and walked to the door.

**..::-::..**

"I'm so sorry for all of this Sandy." her father told Santa Claus.

"I know you are Jack and please call me 'Santa'." Santa told him again.

"Of course, is there anything we can do to help?" she heard her father's voice fade as she walked farther and father away from it.

"WHY CAN'T I DO ANYTHING RIGHT?" she yelled at the snow covered mountains in the distance. But they stayed silent like so many other things in her afterlife. At last Holly sat down on top of a hill over looking the snow covered landscape away from the colorful town of Christmas and listened to the wind blow around her. It was soothing just listening to the sounds of nature. They held no animosity towards her. No grudge, nothing that would cause any discomfort of any kind for anyone. No, they just blew and listened to her lament "_I don't know why, but I don't get this thing. Why do they go crazy every year? Is it in the water? Is it in the wind? Why do they insist on this non-fear? I don't understand why this is so fascinating. Its just bright lights and a green tree. It is just white liquid that is cold and wet. So I don't comprehend what's so great. Yet why am I one who doesn't understand this feeling in Christmas land? But he's Jack The Pumpkin King and his daughter's supposed to be this perfect thing. I know my place in all of the land. Yet I am still the empty hand. Why can't I see what everyone sees? Is there something wrong with me?_" she finished telling the wind and it responded with a howl as if it understood why she felt so sad. Holly stood up and brushed the snow from her cloths. "Thanks for listening to me." as she finished a soft snow flake landed on her cheek like mother nature was giving her a comforting kiss. She smiled and headed for the Halloween holiday door. She arrived to find her parents waiting for her.

"Ready to go?" her mother asked sweetly. Holly nodded and her father opened the door to their home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

All the way home Holly stayed silent while her parents looked on at her with worried expressions. "Jack you should go talk to her." she heard her mother say to her father. She didn't see her father's reaction, but she heard his foot steps behind her as they drew closer.

"Holly is there something you want to talk about?" he asked her finally reaching her side. She shook her head like a little girl in trouble. Jack put his arm around her shoulders "Holly, Sandy's not mad at you-"

She suddenly burst into tears "Yes he is! I know he is! I know all the elves are too! I messed everything up I cant do anything right! I'm just a mistake!" Holly cupped her hands in her face and ran off toward the cemetery.

"Holly!" Jack called after her and was about to case after her when sally gently held him back. "Sally."

"Let her go Jack, she needs time to think."

"Alright. But if she stays out past her curfew she's in trouble."

Sally smiled and shook her head. "Come on 'Pumpkin King' I need to go shopping for dinner."

Jack smiled at the use of his title and bowed low extending his long arm saying "Of course my queen, ladies first." he took her hand and they headed into town.

Holly ran all the way to Spiral Hill and didn't stop until it ended. She cried for a few moments then heard the familiar screams of the town she knew and loved. The sounds of horror in the air soothed her and eventually she stopped crying. Then there was silence and she felt unusually shaken. The unnatural silence would have been welcomed, but this time it seemed to come on naturally and that's what scared her. Holly suddenly remembered a song her mother sung her when she was younger. So she got up and started to dance then she felt the urge to sing so she did.

**..::-::..**

Barrel was walking along the tome stones in the back of the graveyard licking a lollypop when he heard the most peculiar sound. A women singing. So he hopped off the tablet and followed the sound to its owner. And there she was, the angel of his nightmare, the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. She had only one eye that was bright green and reminded Barrel of the most disgusting slime he had ever seen. Her hair was as black as the night when the sky held no moon and ran down past her waist. She had one stray curl in her hair that was white, in front of her face, that she removed from time to time. She was a stitched skeleton, but the rest of her body was flesh except for one of her hands that was nothing, but bone. She wore a stitched shirt and long black pants along with a cobwebbed skirt that extended out when she spun around. He looked at her like he was a sponge absorbing everything he could about her incase she wasn't part of this word. No being could have been so perfect.

"_My dearest friend if you don't mind, I'd like to join you by your side. Where we can gaze up at the stars and sit together now and forever for it is plain as anyone can see we're simply meant to be._" He sat down behind a tome stone and watched her for what seamed like only seconds until he heard the sound of a familiar voice in the distance.

"Holly, dinner time!"

The angel looked in the direction of the voice, sighed and answered "Coming father."

"_What?_" Barrel thought "_That's Holly? But she's so pretty! She looks so different from the last time I saw her!_" she ran closer to him and he was afraid that she would think him a pervert for watching her dance. Barrel hurriedly crawled away, but not fast enough because she saw him and they tumbled down the rest of the way. When they finally stopped at the bottom of the hill, he was on top of her and she was out cold. "Shit!" he cursed out loud and that seemed to have woken her up. "Shit!" he said again.

"Uuuughh." she moaned. "What happened?" she looked up at him and he couldn't help but smile at the position they were in. After all he was still a guy. "What did I trip on?" she asked then when she finally clued into their current state she full on slapped him across the face.

Barrel was thrown off her in seconds. She sat up covering her self unconsciously. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE BARREL?" she yelled.

"DANM IT!" Barrel shouted as he sat on the ground across from her, rubbing his red and stinging face. "You know you're the one who tripped over me!"

"What were you doing on the ground to begin with?" then she stood faster then he thought possible "Were you spying on me?" Barrel froze in his soothing of his wound. She had hit home. "PERVERT!"

"No that would be Lock. I'm more of a candy guy, myself." As soon as he said that he regretted it. "NO that came out wrong!" she cringed at that then took a step backward. Barrel finally stood to look at her strait in the eyes. "This is coming out all wrong. So let me just say I think you are the most wonderful dancer and singer I have ever heard. I guess I can also say I think you are the most radiant women I have ever seen. I'm sorry I scared you and I meant you no harm. I was spying on you only because I had never before seen something so lovely." she looked taken aback. "Sorry Holly." he said dejectedly then ran off to the club house leaving a very stunted girl. When he finally reached the place he was greeted by a very unhappy Shock.

"Barrel, where have you been?" she snapped as he walked into the club house. "We had to forfeit good pranks because you weren't there to take the blame!"

"Get off my back!" he snapped back.

"You know the rules Barrel." Shock said ignoring him. "Since you made us give up perfectly good pranks, you have to suffer the consequences." Both she and Lock laughed at him. Barrel didn't care though, he wasn't going to do what they told him. He was tired and sad so he slunked off to bed.

"Where were you anyways? It's not like you have a life... I mean death…whatever." Lock asked Barrel following him into him room.

Shock entered as well and asked "Yeah where were you?"

"It's none of your business!" Barrel answered quickly. He didn't want them to find out about Holly or they might hurt her.

Lock nudged his arm "Come on man, you can tell me can't you?"

"NO!" Barrel yelled and jumped onto his bed. Lock and Shock left him alone feeling quite defeated.

"Now what do we do?" Lock asked her.

"Use you imagination!" she snapped and Lock smiled a big smile from ear to ear. "Not that!" she snapped again. When she thought better of it and saw his face fall she added "At least not yet, I could go for some 'fun' in a little bit, but first I want to find out where Barrel went."

Lock smiled mischievously and said "So how do you want to do it?"

"Well tomorrow when he leaves we'll follow him and-"

"Not that!" Lock snapped cutting her off and pulling her towards him.

"Will you get your mind out of the gutter!" she said moving away form his hold on her.

Lock folded his arms and moved towards her again saying "No! I like it there!" he grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her towards his face.

She tried to fight, but he was to strong. Eventually she gave up and pulled him closer saying "You know, so do I." Lock smiled bigger than a child on Christmas morning and continued to all throughout the night.

**..::-::..**

Holly stayed there for a very long time before she finally went home. She took her time walking past guillotine square to her tall dark home, where she knew her mother was making her favorite food. Rotting pumpkin with Bats' wing. Just the thought of that made her mouth water. She passed by Corpse Man, Mummy Cyclops and Vampire Man who were talking by the fountain. "Hello Holly, terrible night isn't it?" Corpse Man said to her kindly. She smiled and nodded at him.

The three looked at one another then Mummy Cyclops walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright you don't look like yourself."

"Did something happen?" Vampire Man chimed in. Holly smiled at them. They had been like older brothers to her ever since she was young.

Corpse Man stood punching his hand "Did someone hurt you? Cause if they did they're gonna-"

"No, no nothing like that. I'm fine really. But thanks for your concern guys." she told Corpse Man quickly. The three of them shared a look that said they didn't buy what she was saying, but let it go just the same.

Corpse man walked over to her and gave her a hug and held her at arms length saying "If there ever was a problem you would tell us right?"

The question didn't surprise her, but she was taken aback. Did they see what happened? The three of them waited patiently for her to answer and she nodded saying "Yeah I'd tell you."

"Good." Vampire Man said nodding his head the other two nodded as well happy to hear her answer.

"Cause you know you are like a little sister to us. We wouldn't let anything bad happen to you." Mummy Cyclops said hugging her. Vampire Man and Corpse Man hugged her as well and they stayed that way until Holly heard her father call again this time sounding a little more agitated. The four broke apart and the trio smiled at her. "Wouldn't want to make 'The Pumpkin King' angry now would we?"

She gave them all one more big hug then raced off home. She raced past the mayor causing him to fall and switch faces "Sorry!" she called to him not bothering to stop or to see if he was alright. Knowing the mayor he was fine just being overly dramatic as usual. She crossed the plaza and pushed the gate open to see a not so happy father staring at her.

"What took you so long?" he demanded.

She walked up to him catching her breath before she answered and said "Sorry, I ran into some trouble, but I'm here now aren't I?"

"Trouble, what kind of trouble?" he asked following her into the house past the kitchen and into the dinning room.

"Nothing important. I'm sorry I'm late." she smiled as best she could and he eyed her suspiciously before letting it slide off his shoulders. Jack took his seat at the head of the table and waited for Sally to join them. Holly didn't feel like having her father stare at her until she spilled everything she had done wrong in her afterlife so she walked into the kitchen and saw her mother dishing out the Rotting Pumpkin with Bat's Wing onto three separate plates. Holly pulled out three forks and three knives and placed them on the plates.

Sally watched her daughter in silence then finally said "What happened on the way home Holly?" Holly froze. How did her mother know? Did she have a vision? "Holly?" Sally prompted.

"Nothing happened, mom. Nothing important." Holly said slowly pulling out napkins.

"So something did happen." Sally said loading up the plates and bring them into the dinning room where her father waited.

"NO! Nothing happened!" she said exasperated. Sally looked at her with the same worried look her father had, had before, but let it go.

Her family sat in silence the entire dinner and when it was over Holly started on the kitchen when her mother stopped her saying "Don't worry Holly, I'll get that. You go on." Holly nodded and left her parents to themselves while she headed off to her room. As far as she was concerned she wanted this day to be over as soon as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Holly woke with a start that morning to see her father's best friend staring at her. "Zero!" she growled threateningly. The ghost dog whimpered and his ears fell. She sighed and started to scratch him behind his ears saying "That's alright Zero, I forgive you." the little ghost barked and licked her hand then went on to her face making her laugh. "That's enough! HAHAHA Stop it!" she finally pushed him off then jumped out of her bed. She wondered when it was exactly that she went to bed, but shrugged it off. Stranger things had happened. She got dressed then headed down stairs to find her parents, Zero floating along side her.

"Sally have you seen my Jack-o-lantern blue prints?" she heard her father ask as he walked into the dying room to where her mother was.

"They're on the desk." Sally replied.

Her father walked past her saying "AHA! Thank you Sally." he picked them up, put them in his case and was off to work. He walked past her on the way out and kissed her on the head saying "Good morning pumpkin. Bye girls." then shut the door and was on his way.

"Dad's certainly in a hurry this morning." Holly commented as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Well he is still the Pumpkin King." her mother told her grabbing her bag and heading towards the door.

"Where are you off to?" Holly asked getting up from the table to watch her mother leave.

"I have to go over to the doctors today. I'll be home late, love you." then she was gone. Holly sat at the table with her hand under her chin and the other stroking Zero. She didn't know how long she sat there, but just then the door bell rang.

"Coming." she called and got up to open the door. Holly pulled the little handle open to see Wolfman waiting there. "Oh hi, Wolfman what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Is Jack home?" he asked.

"No, sorry he went to work." she told him weirdly.

"Oh well I guess I'll go talk to him there then. Umm good bye." he told her awkwardly.

"Bye." she said back uncomfortably and shut the door. Holly looked down at Zero and asked "What was that all about?" Zero whined and tilted his head to one side. Even he didn't know. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bite to eat then went up stairs and got dressed. She came back down stairs to see Zero hovering at the door. "Do you want to go for a walk?" he barked and spun in the air. Holly laughed "I'll take that as a 'yes'." she opened and the door and led the little dog outside. Then turned around to lock the door. "Let's go to the market and get a cone of iced slime." Zero barked and she laughed.

Holly walked into the market to find the hustle and bustle like always. She walked over to the iced slime cart and ordered one cone of iced slime with rabies and turtle toes and a small cup of iced slime with cat's tails. She carried their treats to Spiral Hill and set them down up against the bottom. Then sat down herself. Zero started on his treat and it was gone with in moments. The little ghost whimpered and covered his face. Holly chuckled "That's what you get for eating it to fast, Zero. A brain freeze." she rubbed his head and that seamed to comfort him. For a while she sat there enjoying her cone of slime until it was gone. She gave it to the trash eater then went back to join her companion at the hill. She laid there petting Zero until sleep over came her and she rested her head on the side of the hill then closed her eyes.

Holly opened her eyes to find herself in a dark place that seamed to suffocate her. "Where am I?" she asked the darkness, but the only reply was a dark chuckle. "Who's there?" she demanded. No one answered her desperate question, but she suddenly saw a flash of red and felt warm liquid flowing down her body. She lifted her hands and saw red blood spilling onto the floor. Horror filled her heart and not the good kind. What had made this happen? Suddenly light filled the room and she saw her father on the ground his body into so many pieces not even a master puzzler could put him back together. "FATHER!" she screeched and fell to the ground gathering what was left of his head. More light filled the room and she saw her mother splayed onto the ground covered in blood. "MOTHER!" she yelled and ran over to her. Holly begged them to wake, but they would not. What happened? She heard the terrible laugh again and felt her blood run cold. "WHO ARE YOU! DID YOU DO THIS TO THEM? I DEMAND YOU TELL ME!" she screamed at the stranger.

The laughter came again and finally the voice spoke "Why should I tell you?"

"I AM THE DAUGHTER OF THE PUMPKIN KING! THE PUMPKIN PRINCESS HOLLY! YOU WILL TELL ME EVERYTHING I WANT TO KNOW!" Holly bellowed at the voice.

"Well, well, well excuse me 'your highness'. HAHAHAHA!" the voice said snidely.

"NOW!" she roared. Her despair giving way to pent up anger.

"Fine don't be so mean." the voice said as if it was hurt. "Well I guess I can tell who did this wonderful mess here." she waited for it to finish. It waited for a long time then finally said "You."

Holly went paler then a ghost. She wound never hurt her parents let alone kill them! "YOU LIE!" she yelled.

"Do I?" the voice asked then darkness swallowed her and she opened her eyes screaming into the evening's setting sun. Holly looked around and found that she was still sitting up against Spiral Hill with Zero whining next to her.

She panted and wiped the sweat from her face and said to Zero "It's alright boy, I'm okay." he tilted his head to one side and snuggled up against her to comfort her. "Thanks boy." she got up from her make-shift bed and started to head towards the town hall. She finally made it to town hall to find the mayor on the pendulum writing something. "Mayor!" she shouted causing him to fall off and switch faces. She didn't bother to ask if he was okay she didn't much care. "Have you seen my father?" she asked hurriedly.

He groaned and rubbed his head then said "I haven't seen him since he left this afternoon."

"Where did he go?" she demanded making the mayor cower in front of her.

"I don't know, your majesty." he was scared of her. So scared he even called her your majesty. She hasn't been called that in like forever. But she was scared herself. That her dream might come true so she didn't care to tell him not to call her that she just screamed angrily and rushed out of town hall past very scared citizens and to the doctors.

She didn't bother knocking she just barged in yelling "DOCTOR FINKLESTEIN!" Holly saw Igor limp towards her, but she didn't have time for him so she just shoved him out of the way making him scream. She ran up the long ramp and found the doctor wheeling his chair towards the door.

"What on earth do you want, Holly?" he said snapping at her. She glared at him and she noticed him flinch ever so slightly.

"My mother! Where is she?" she demanded walking menacingly slowly up to him. The doctor had to regain some composure before he spoke.

"She left this afternoon. I don't know where she went." he finally said wiping the sweat from his head. She roared with frustration and ran down the ramp again. Holly swung the door open and found some of the town's people freeze and watch her run past them. One women actually shielded her son from the angered princess. She didn't even notice Zero floating worriedly next to her. Nor did she remember that Zero could've found them in a heart beat, but she wasn't thinking strait. Too worried about her dream. So she started to run and found herself running faster and faster until she was sprinting across the town to the cemetery. She was so intent on finding her parents that she didn't notice someone in the way. Holly ran strait into Barrel causing them both to fall onto the ground.

"What does the world have against me anyway?" she heard the youngest of the trick-or-treaters say.

He got up first when he noticed Holly still on the ground. Barrel offered her his hand and she took it hesitantly. "S-sorry Barrel. I didn't see you." she stammered trying to hide her blushing. After all the last time they saw each other they were in a very precarious position and he told her that she was pretty much perfect.

He waved it off "That's alright I-" he stopped mid sentence when he finally noticed it was Holly who he was talking to. "I-I was just walking that way." he pointed in the opposite direction away from her. "Umm can I ask why you were in such a hurry?" he rubbed the back of his head, uncomfortable. Maybe he shouldn't have been asking.

Holly felt the tears well up in her eyes and hugged Barrel crying hard. "Barrel! I can't find my parents anywhere and I had the most terrifying vision! They're in trouble and I am the cause of it! I know it! What do I do!" she cried for a while and Barrel didn't know what to do either. If he comforted her, she might slap him again, but if he didn't, she might slap him again. What was _he_ supposed to do?

Barrel moved his hand to her upper back and hugged her. "That's okay. I'm sure they're just fine. After all it was just a dream-"

"IT WASN'T JUST A DREAM IT WAS A VISION! My mother has them sometimes and they always come true! What if this one comes true too?" she screeched interrupting him.

Barrel grabbed her face and pulled her up to look at him. "Its okay. I'm sure Jack and Sally are just fine. I'll even help you look if that'll make you feel better." he told her and she started to calm down.

"Okay." she nodded and wiped her eyes. "Thanks Barrel. I'm sorry I freaked out." she got up and started to walk away.

Barrel got up with her and joined her at her side. "That's okay. I didn't mind." he smiled a goofy smile and she couldn't help, but laugh.

They walked along in silence until Holly stopped suddenly "Is something wrong?" Barrel asked a little worried.

"I just got a great idea." she told him then called Zero to her. "Zero I need your help finding mom and dad." the ghost dog barked and zoomed of toward the hinterlands. She and Barrel had to run to keep up with him.

"Why didn't you think of this before you went on a rampage through the town?" Barrel asked her sarcastically.

"I don't know, but I'll need to apologies to everyone especially to the mayor and the doctor." Holly told him shamefully. The two rounded the corner and found Zero sniffing the ground. He then sped off to the right and waited for them to reach him before moving on. Holly and Barrel ran past a particularly large hill then heard the sound of voices. Two voices in particular that she was looking for. And as she reached the clearing she found the owners. "MOM! DAD!" Holly exclaimed then ran to meet them.

"Holly!" her mother said standing to meet her daughter's embrace. "What are you doing here?"

"I had the most terrible dream!" Holly cried.

"That's wonderful!" her father said happily.

"No," Holly said shaking her head "The bad terrible."

"What?" her father asked and she slapped her forehead.

"Oh no, what happened?" Sally asked ignoring her husband and hugging her daughter tightly.

"I had a vision that you were both dead and I was the one who killed you." Holly said sadly.

"Oh Holly." her mother hugged her and they stayed like that until the bushes moved making Jack step in front of them protectively.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"It's just me, Jack." Barrel told them stepping out from behind the tree.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked him disbelievingly.

Holly got up and walked over to Barrel and stood in between him and her father. "It's okay dad. I asked him to help me find you."

"But why would you need help finding us?" Sally asked her and Barrel and Holly shared a look.

"Nobody knew where you two were and I had that dream. I felt a terrible feeling that something bad was going to happen to you and I needed to make sure you were okay." Holly told them.

"Well, everything is alright now so let's just go home." Jack said walking toward Holly and Barrel. He then ushered Sally ahead of him then Holly leaving Barrel there alone.

**..::-::..**

Holly lagged behind as her mother and father walked ahead of her. She couldn't help, but feel like she'd betrayed Barrel somehow. She was about to go back and find him, when she heard her name being called. "Holly!" she turned around to see the very person she wanted to see. Barrel was racing up to her then finally stopped in front of her panting. "Barrel, is something wrong?" she asked plainly.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just that…umm," he said uneasily. She waited patiently for him to continue. "Will you…umm…go…go on a…a…d-d-date with me?" he finally finished.

"What?" she asked shocked.

Barrel lowered his head and started to walk away "Never mind. It's not important."

Holly ran after him and stopped him by standing in front of him. "Barrel, you didn't even give me a chance to answer."

He waited with his head down as if he already knew the answer so when she said yes his head shot right up. "Really?"

"Really." she told him happily.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Holly skipped home smiling the whole way. She passed her mother and father who both shared a very concerned look. Then passed the mayor who looked confused to put it lightly. She went strait to her room and put on her Pajamas then hopped into bed. As she was falling asleep she recounted what had happened not 15 minutes ago. "Really." Holly told the excided Trick-Or-Treater. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well I was thinking we could go for a walk in the cemetery and get to know one another better." Barrel had told her.

"Great! What time?" she asked him.

He thought for a moment then finally said "How's about nine?" she nodded her head and he smiled. "Terrible! Then meet me at nine 'o clock tomorrow night in the pumpkin patch."

"Alright!" she agreed then watched him run off into the opposite direction. Holly smiled at the memory of the first time someone had asked her out. Her! The screw up! She was so excited! And not just because it was her first date, but also because she actually liked Barrel…at least she didn't hate him. She fell asleep and woke with a smile the next morning. She walked down stairs with a smile on, causing her mother to ask why she was so happy.

"Well I'm happy because Barrel asked me out on a date tonight at nine!" Holly told her happily then saw her father spit out his hot mud.

"Barrel did what?" he demanded.

Holly and Sally both looked at each other. "Barrel asked me out on a date." Holly repeated.

"You are not going on a date with him!" Jack said standing, making himself tower over his daughter.

"Why not?" she asked confused.

"Because it's Barrel!" He said exasperated.

"I know, that's why I want to go on the date, _because_ it's Barrel." Holly told him half laughing.

"I will not allow it!" Jack said crossing him arms.

"Why!" Holly demanded.

"Because he's one of the Trick-Or-Treater's. That rotten bunch has gotten into more trouble than I'd care to count." he told her sitting down and gulping down his mud drink.

"Well he's changed. He's not the same as he was a couple of years ago. People change, dad. Why can't he?" she asked him looking pleadingly into his eye sockets.

"Because…because…because I say so that's why!" Jack mumbled out. Sally and Holly shared a look that said 'oh brother' then Sally walked up to her husband.

"Jack, maybe you're being to hard on him. I mean those three haven't caused any trouble since you defeated Oogie."

Jack said nothing, but kept a thoughtful look on his face as Holly interjected. "Please dad. He really isn't all that bad, really."

Her father was silent for a few more minuets before he sighed and nodded his head saying "Alright, but you have to be home by ten."

Holly was about to object when her mother cut in "Jack,"

"Alright ten o one." her father said.

"Jack," Sally argued.

"Fine, fine ten o two."

"JACK!" her mother said shutting his jaw so he couldn't speak. Sally turned to her daughter and smiled "Be home no later than eleven thirty, alright?"

Holly hugged her mother "Thank you mom and yes, I will be no later than eleven thirty." she ran out of the kitchen and up to her room. "I'm going out!"

"Where are you going?" her father called once he was free form Sally's hold.

"I have to go and get ready!" Holly called running back down the stairs.

"But that's eleven hours away!" her father protested.

Sally smiled and went to the dying room to clean it, but Jack heard her say "A girl can never be to ready."

**..::-::..**

Holly closed the door to her house and walked to the pumpkin patch to meet Barrel. She found him sitting on the fence moving his feet back and fourth. She smiled at that then walked up to him. "Hello Barrel." she said sweetly.

He nearly fell off the fence, but still smiled at her when he saw her and said "Hi Holly!" they shared a few awkward moments before he offered her his hand and she took it with a smile. They traveled to the cemetery in silence until he finally asked her "Why is your name 'Holly'?" She looked at him for a moment or two causing him to say "Not that, that's a bad name, it just seems a little. . . bright for a Halloween name."

She nodded and said "It's my father's favorite Christmas plant…besides mistletoe. He was going to name me that, but my mother would not allow it." she giggled at the thought of Jack trying to convince Sally to name their daughter Mistletoe.

"I didn't know that." Barrel said to her with a smile.

"May I ask you something?" Holly asked Barrel and he nodded. "Why did you serve Oogie if he was so bad?"

Barrel was quiet for a long time before he sighed and finally said "I never wanted to." Holly was about to ask why, but he wasn't finished. "When Oogie first came to town, he was something new that Lock and Shock and I could play with, but he did most of the playing. We offered to help him with whatever he had in mind and when we learned that it was to take over the town we really didn't care, so we thought 'what the heck'. After Jack defeated him I didn't want to work for him any more because he was bad news, but he threatened us if we didn't work for him so we did. And not to mention Lock and Shock would have teased me for ever and, at that time, they meant the world to me. I looked up to them." he put his head down for a little bit then lifted it back up and continued "But now that I'm older I care more for the people and for the town." after a while he added "Jack showed me that."

"Wow," she said "I didn't think you liked my father."

"Well for a long time I didn't, but I guess I just grew up and learned that he was the good guy." Barrel said chuckling a little bit. They walked and talked for a long time before Holly looked at her watch and found out it was eleven twenty.

"Wow, it's that late? Time flies when you're having fun huh?"

Holly asked Barrel and all he could say was "You had fun?"

"Yes…didn't you?" She said half laughing to herself.

"Well of course I did! I was with you-" he didn't stop himself in time to save his self from embarrassment.

"Thanks." Holly said laughing and soon he did to. They started heading for her house when all of a sudden something grabbed her and pulled her away from Barrel. "AAAAA! Barrel!" she called out in surprise. Barrel looked over her way and saw that she was being held prisoner by something that was shrouded in the dark. "Release me!" Holly demanded, but the stranger's only reply was to pull her arm behind her back painfully. She cried out in pain.

"You will do as I say or the 'Princess' get's it." said the stranger.

"Okay fine just don't hurt her." Barrel said reaching behind him. The man holding Holly didn't seem to notice. "But first," Barrel pulled out a little gun "Have some pellets! I hear they're good for you." he pelted the man then gabbed Holly and ran. "Run!" he called and she had no objections. Once they were back inside the safety of the town did they started to walk again. "That was weird. Are you okay?" Barrel asked her placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah I'm fine." she said not really wanting to talk at the moment so he walked her home. When they reached the front door she turned around and smiled at him. "Barrel thank you for saving me and other than that strange guy, I had a terrible time."

"Well you're really terrible to be with and you're welcome." he said back blushing a bit and placing his hand behind his head. Holly looked up into his eyes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bad night." She said then walked inside her house.

"Bad night." he said back. Once the door clicked Holly heard the sounds of cheering outside and rushed to the window only to see Barrel jumping up and down waving his hands and saying "She kissed me! She kissed me! Wahoo!" Holly laughed and watched him until he was out of site. She raced up stairs and fell asleep thinking about her Night in Rusted Armor.

**..::-::..**

Lock and Shock raced to the club house fully ready to come up with a way to embarrass Barrel in front of his new girl friend, when something ran into them. "Watch it!" Shock snapped at the stranger.

"Sorry!" the stranger snapped back and a deep male voice.

"Oogie?" Shock asked a little terrified.

"How did you know my name?" Oogie asked rubbing his head.

Lock and Shock looked at each other. "We've served you ever since you came to his town. But how did you come back? We thought Jack bug roasted you." Lock asked.

"Do I look bug roasted and you never served me. I don't even know who you are!" he snapped ready to leave when Shock blocked his path.

"You're. . .shorter then I remember."

"Yeah and trimmer." Lock added using his hands as a visual. Shock punched him in the gut telling him to shut up. He doubled over in pain.

"Whatever! I have things I need to do! Get out of my way!" he said loudly pushing past Shock.

"WAIT!" Shock called to him before he disappeared.

He stopped, irritated. "What!"

"Who are you?" She asked finally looking into his face. His head was the same as Oogie Boogie's had been, made out of burlap with the sack end falling down, but his entire right side was flesh stitched to the burlap sack part of his body. He wore burlap pants and a black shirt. There wasn't much to him at all, but his eye socket looked so much like Oogie's it made Shock tremble.

"I'm Oogie Boogie the second."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Shock opened the club house door and stepped over the threshold. She walked slowly over to her room then paused to look at Lock as he escorted Oogie Jr. over to his room. Once their door was shut she entered her own room. Shock plopped herself onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Had what just happened really just happen? She closed her eyes and replayed the last half an hour in her minds eye.

"_I'm Oogie Boogie the second." Oogie Jr. told the two trick-or-treaters._

"_Oogie had a son?" Lock exclaimed. Shock shook her head, this can't be true. When Oogie first arrived in Halloween Town, Jack had told him, he wasn't allowed to leave the casino and, even though Oogie and the Trick-or-Treaters would never admit it, Oogie was scared of Jack. He did what he was told._

"_You lair!" Shock yelled at him. "Oogie never had a son!"_

_The so called Oogie Jr. glared at her so fiercely that she took a step back and started to shake when he spoke. "WHAT?" He bellowed. He walked up to her menacingly. "Oogie Boogie was my father and I'll rip your throat out of you DARE to say that again." He told her icily then raised his hand and sack hand in the air. The ground trembled as a hoard of bugs every shape and size came rushing towards her._

_To his credit, Lock jumped in between Jr., the bugs, and Shock protectively and said "Leave her alone." he wasn't doing so good himself for he was shaking from fear as well._

"_Alright." Shock had said from behind Lock. "I believe you. No one could summon bugs like that. And no one was as terrifying as Oogie." '_Besides Jack_' She added to herself. Jr. lowered his hands and the bugs went away. There was silence for a second or two before she said "So if you're Oogie's son, where have you been this whole time?"_

"_In an orphanage." He said._

_Lock and Shock looked at each other confused. "What?" Lock asked._

_Jr. looked at them and said "I grew up with my mother until I was 6. She died on my birthday." He added coldly. "She told me all kinds of stories about my father, how amazing he was how perfect he was and how clever he was. She told he was the rightful king of Halloween Town, but she never told me his name. When I was sent to the orphanage the other kids were afraid of me so no one waned to play with me. That made it so no one wanted to adopt me. But I didn't care. It gave me more time for my research. I looked up my birth papers and found that my date of birth just happed to be 9 months __after__ Oogie was sentenced to stay in that casino. I also found records of him leaving the casino, before he was imprisoned, to see a women named Battie Flesh. My mother."_

"_Okay so he met your mother and you were born after Oogie got in trouble. That doesn't prove anything." Shock told him irritably._

_He glared at her "That's what I thought until I found this." He then held up a piece of fabric and threw it at Lock._

_Lock caught it with ease and held it in his hands. "This was a piece of Oogie's burlap sack that held him together!"_

_Shock ripped it out of Lock's hands saying "Give me that!" She ran her fingers over the rough fabric and gasped "It really is Oogie's."_

_Lock took the fabric from Shock and said "Okay so you broke into our club house and stole a piece of Oogie's sack. What does that prove."_

"_I didn't steal that." Jr. growled. "My mother left that to me before she died."_

"_Oh, ha, my mistake." Lock said nervously as Jr. started to rip his sack. "What are you doing?" Lock asked him confused._

_Jr. ripped a piece of his arm off causing bugs to fall out. Shock gasped and huddled into Lock's arm. Lock reached over and put his hand protectively on her shoulder. The bugs continued to fall, but Jr. didn't seem to care. "Here." he said throwing the piece of fabric to Lock. Only then did he cover the hole in his arm with his hand._

_Lock let go of Shock and held both pieces of fabric in his hand. One was Oogie's and the others was Jr.'s. only problem was he couldn't tell them apart. "They're exactly the same."_

_Shock looked over Lock's shoulder and ran her fingers along the fabrics. She then looked up "You __are__ his son."_

"_So glad you approve." Jr. snapped back._

_Lock threw the pieces of fabric back to Jr. and asked "So what are you doing now?"_

_Jr. caught them and replaced the hole in his arm with his missing piece of fabric. "Revenge." He said simply then turned around and started walking away._

_Shock and Lock ran up to him and started walking with him. "And how exactly do you intend to do that… and why?" Lock asked with a sneer._

_Jr. ignored the sneer and continued walking. "I'm going to get revenge on Jack for my father. I never got to meet him thanks to that bone head. He took the leadership that my father so rightly deserved away from him." Jr. looked up at the moon and smiled. This made Shock shudder. Jr.'s smile was just like his father's. It was a smile that only came when Oogie was torturing some unlucky person that wondered to close the gorge. The smile he got when he enjoyed someone else's pain. The smile he should never use. "I'm going to make him feel what I have felt for so many years. I'm going to make him feel loss, sorrow, and pain. Severe pain."_

"_How," Lock gulped "how are you going to do that?"_

_Jr. was still smiling when he looked over to the two Trick-or-Treaters "Why, kill his family of course."_

_Shock looked at Lock. They normally would have jumped at the bit to get revenge on Jack, but this time it just seemed different. It seemed wrong somehow. Shock shuddered. Was she going soft? No, she wasn't! "We'll help. We've nothing better to do." she said with a smile. Lock looked at her like he disagreed, but stayed silent._

"_Thanks," Jr. said sarcastically "but I don't need your help."_

_He started to leave, but Shock stopped him. "I wasn't asking. I was telling. We know a whole lot more about the Skellington family than you do and we use to work for your so called father and haven't done much since he was gone. We want a little excitement and you're offering it."_

_Jr. looked at her for a few minutes before he answered. "Fine."_

_Lock ran up to him and threw his arm around Jr.'s shoulder and said "Great! I'm Lock and she is my girlfriend Shock, don't get any ideas." Jr. rolled his one eye. "You can hang at our place and then we can talk." _

Shock smiled. This was going to be fun. She was really looking forward to seeing the look on that goodie-two-shoes' face when her new friend said hi.

**..::-::..**

Holly woke up to the sound of a screeching bat and dark clouds rolling into the town. She smiled saying "Today is going to be a terrible day!" She hopped out of bed and ran to her closet. She pulled on her clothes and looked at the clock. It was well past 4 in the afternoon! Why on earth did she sleep for that long? Holly shrugged oh well can't be helped now. She ran downstairs and out the door before anyone could say otherwise. As she ran past the fountain, she saw her father, but instead of saying anything she just waved a hello to him. Jack waved back, but before he could stop her to ask her where she was going she was gone and out of his sight. He sighed he needed to talk to Sally first anyway.

Jack walked in the door and saw his lovely wife sitting in the dying room reading. "Sally," he said placing his case down next to the door.

She looked up at him "Yes?" she said placing the book down.

Jack sighed again "I need to talk to you about something that I learned today."

At first Sally looked a little worried, but she smiled and said comfortingly "Go ahead."

"A young man named Jr. has gone missing." Jack said sitting down next to her.

Sally covered her mouth "Oh no. What happened? How are his parents doing?"

At that Jack looked up at her "His parents are dead. His mother died on his birthday 22 years ago. His father died about 20 years ago. We don't even know who his father was, but his mother's name was Battie Flesh. The orphanage where he lived until he was 18 reported him missing a week ago. They said he would be about 25 years old."

"That's awful, but why did the orphanage report it and what's Jr. stand for?" After thinking for a little bit she added "Why is this so important?" Jack had never shared things like this with her before.

"They said he worked there so he could live there. They didn't give any other name besides Jr. They said his mother called him that and that he was named after his father. The orphanage said that when he didn't come home one night they waited until morning, but he still didn't return so they called the Screamicers and reported him missing. I thought I should tell you because while he was living there he would always ask questions about Oogie Boogie. And know the three Trick-O-Treaters they probably are telling him lies up the wazoo. I was told that someone matching his description was seen with Lock and Shock."

"Why?" Sally asked confused.

"I don't know, but the description they gave us was that he was half flesh-" Jack stopped maybe he shouldn't be telling Sally this. It might worry her.

"You can tell me." Sally said softly placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Half flesh," Jack continued "half burlap sack. And when he got cut, instead of blood it was bugs that fell out. Sound like someone we know?" Jack asked her sarcastically.

Sally covered her mouth "But how?" was all she could say.

Jack simply looked at her "I don't know."

**..::-::..**

Holly held the little bag of 'Vile' perfume that she had just bought in her hands on her way home. She passed the fountain and walked up to the mayor. He didn't see her so when she called to him he jumped in surprise. "Holly!" the mayor cried "You startled me."

"Sorry about that Mayor." Holly said with an apologetic smile.

He switched faces and smiled back at her "No harm done!" he said cheerfully.

"Mayor," Holly said "I also wanted to apologize about what happened a couple of days ago." he continued to smile at her so she continued to talk "I didn't mean to be rude to you, I was just scared and in a hurry. I'm sorry."

"That's alright Holly." Mayor said happily "No harm done!"

"Okay, well I better be getting home so goodbye!" she called as she raced to her house. The mayor waved a goodbye and went back to his work.

As Holly entered her house she called "Hi mom!"

"Hi Hun." Sally called to her. "Hungry?" She asked as Holly walked into the kitchen.

"Sure!" Holly said happily as she sat down.

"You sure seem cheerful today." Sally said with a sly smile as she placed a bowl of spider legs in front of herself and Holly.

"Hmm mm. I really like Barrel, mom. He's such a gentlemen." Holly answered. Sally was silent for a few moments so Holly continued starting to blush "I uh gave him a kiss last night."

"You gave who a kiss?" Holly turned around and looked at her father. Jack had just placed his boney hand around the door frame then poked his head out.

"Uh, Barrel." she said without looking at him.

Jack Skellington turned redder then Devil on the hottest day in July. "You what? To who?" he asked quietly, dangerously moving closer to her.

"I kissed Barrel!" she stated strongly. "I really like him, dad! He hasn't done anything wrong for a long time!" Holly said trying her best to convince him.

"Holly!" Jack yelled. "I told you before! Stay away from him! He and those three are no good! They will always be that way! They worked for Oogie Boogie to try and take over Halloween Town! They hate me! They hate your mother! They hate everyone! They probably hate you! They're just using you to get to me and the town!"

Sally gasped putting her hand over her mouth. "Jack!" she cried glaring at him.

Holly felt the tears well up in her eyes. "So that's the only reason a guy would like me?" she asked him softly. "So that he could get to you and the town? Did it ever occur to you that maybe he would like me for me? And have nothing to do with you?" she yelled at him. Without waiting for a reply she pushed past him and ran out the door.

Jack watched her go in silent awe. How could he have said that? To his own daughter? "You've done some stupid things in your afterlife jack, but this is the most inconsiderate thing- what happened to you?" Sally said to him walking up next to him with her hands on her shoulders.

"Sally I told you-" Jack began, but she cut him off.

"I know what you told me. Still Jack," she sighed closing her eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if Holly didn't come home tonight." Sally told him "And until she does," sally shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes "I'm not speaking to you." at that she left the room and headed up stairs.

Jack sat down at the table in the kitchen and held his head "Oh Holly," he said softly to himself "I'm so sorry. I just want to protect you." he then covered his face and started to cry.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Barrel popped another candy corn into his mouth as he made his way to the club house. He was almost out of them so he was going to have to restock next time he went to the shriek shop. As soon as he opened the door Barrel knew there was something not right. He stepped into his house and into his room and there he saw the same figure that tried to hurt Holly. Barrel immediately garbed him and shoved him up against the wall "What the hell are you doing here? And what the hell did you want with the Princess?" he demanded.

Suddenly and without warning his face was up against the wall. "I don't have to tell you anything." the stranger said in a deep voice.

"Yes you do!" Barrel cried then managed to get away from him. Next thing he knew was he and the stranger were throwing punches everywhere. Barrel was bleeding from a cracked lip and his entire face was hurting. The stranger wasn't bleeding, but Barrel had managed to throw a few good punches too. Suddenly something grabbed his shoulder and threw him to the ground and the voice of Shock entered his ears.

"What the hell are you doing, Barrel?" she demanded.

Barrel wiped his lip of blood then glared at her. "This guy attacked the princess the other night and now he's in our home! What do you think I'm doing!" he snapped at her.

Shock sighed "Damn Barrel I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't realize you were this stupid!" she then walked over to the stranger and put her hands on his shoulder and said "This is Jr. Oogie Boogie Jr. We have agreed to help him with something."

**..::-::..**

After Shock had finished explaining who Jr. was and what they planed to do, he stood up and started to leave. "where are you going?" Shock exclaimed. "We need your help!"

Barrel turned to his former friends and glared at them saying "No way. I'm through with you guys. If you want to ruin your afterlives fine, but I'm done." he turned to go, but Lock stopped him.

"You wouldn't want anything to happen to that new girl of yours, would you?" Lock said looking up from the knife he was playing with.

Barrel turned and faced him paler than a ghost "You wouldn't."

"Oh believe me," Lock said walking up to him "we would."

"So what's it gonna be?" Shock asked with an evil smile.

Barrel lowered his eyes "Fine."

Holly had cried all the way to Spiral Hill. How could her father be that cruel! She knew that the Trick-Or-Treaters had a bad streak behind them, but Barrel was different! Why did he have to say that? Holly always knew she was different from her father and mother and the whole town for that matter, but with Barrel she finally felt like she belonged. She finally felt like she wasn't a freak. "WHY?" she screamed through her tears. "Why is everything I do not good enough?" she cupped her face in her hands and continued to cry.

Barrel rolled over on his bed and looked at the clock in the corner of his room. 10:00. He sighed. He didn't want to be part of this. He was trying to start a new life and he really cared about Holly. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but he couldn't think of any other way. If he had told her; Lock, Shock and Jr. would find out and if he had told Jack or sally they would've found out about that too. Jr. had told him earlier that he had his bugs all over the city. Suddenly Barrel heard a faint scream in the distance. That had sounded like Holly, and it didn't sound like the good scream. He sat strait up and hopped out of bed. He then remembered that Jr. was sharing his room with him so he silently went to his closet and pulled on his cloths and shoes then raced out the door not knowing that he was being followed.

Holly screamed again, but this time more in frustration then sadness. She then heard the sound of faint barking and within moments saw her father's best friend, Zero. Zero whined at her and nosed her hand for her to pet him. She sighed "Hi, Zero." she said tiredly scratching him behind his ears. "Are you mad at my dad too?" she asked, but before he could answer she heard someone call her name.

"Holly?" Holly looked up and saw that it was Barrel coming towards her.

She couldn't help, but smile "Barrel!" she cried happily racing to him. When they reached each other she hugged him fiercely and asked "What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

Barrel barely hugged her back. "No, I'm fine, but I heard you scream and was-" he cut off thinking about what he was about to say "wondering why you did?" he finished. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm sorry I worried you." Holly said lowering her head. She then began to tell him what happened with her father. After she was done they were sitting on top of the hill. "I just never thought he could do something like this." Holly said finishing sadly. Barrel just sat there quietly until she was done.

"Maybe," Barrel began softly "your dad's right." he finished looking deadly at her.

Holly looked up at him surprised to hear him say that and a bit scared. "What?"

"You know it was fun at first, but I just don't feel that way towards you." Barrel continued looking away from her.

"What do you mean?" she asked hoping this was all just a dream.

"What I mean is, I don't want to see you anymore! I never really cared about you, it was just for fun! I mean come on! Who would like you? You who screw up everything and don't know when to just give up!" Barrel cried looking back at her glaring. It was taking all he had to say these cruel things and not take them back.

"Barrel I," Holly began reaching for him, but he pulled away "I didn't know that bothered you. I'm sorry, but I can't change who I am." after a moments thought she added "And how dare you say that to me! How can you be so cruel?" she cried standing up.

"I'm not being cruel, I'm just telling you the truth." Barrel said standing as well. "I just wanted-" Barrel took a breath he knew he had to say this, but it was going to kill him. "I just wanted to get your father angry! We want the town and him to suffer and the only way that it worked was getting to you! I never cared about you! You were just a means to the end! Just something we could throw away." he looked at her now and saw her face. She was hurt and shocked. The tears silently fell down her sweet face and he knew that this was goodbye. "And this is me getting rid of the trash!" he said at last then turned around and ran away. He knew that if he had walked she would have seen his tears fall too.

Holly watched him go then fell to the ground. "_Why did he have to leave me now? I don't know why I don't know how. Was it something that I had said? That he should lead me no he led. Why did he do this to me? And now we'll never, end up together. Why can't he be, the destined one for me, wish we were meant to be. Why did it have to be him? Why is our light now so dim? I loved him so much I could live. Now I have nothing left to give. I thought that he was the one. Because he was my morning sun. But now I see, he'll never be with me. For we will never be._" Holly cried. She cried harder then she ever had before. She then heard Zero whine and whimper next to her. She had forgotten that he was there. Holly stroked him on top of his head and said sadly "Well it seems like your they only one who thinks I'm worth anything."

"That's not true, my dear."

Even though Sally had told Jack that Holly wasn't going to come home that night he went out to go and look for her to try and see if he could explain why he had said those horrible things and apologize. Jack sighed as he exited the pumpkin patch. Sally had kept good on her promise of not speaking to him. Every time he tried to talk to her she would just turn around and leave and when he had a question she would answer it with the least amount of words she could. Jack knew Sally had every right to be angry and that Holly had every right to be angry with him, but he still had to admit, he had never seen Sally this angry before. It made his heart ache to think that he was the reason such a sweet person could get so angry because of him. Jack walked into the cemetery and over to Zero's tome stone. He tapped his leg and called for the dog, but nothing happened. After whistling for him and Zero still not showing up Jack shrugged and continued towards Spiral Hill.

When Jack finally made it to Spiral Hill he was met with a terrible sight. From behind the iron gate that led to the hill he saw his daughter being thrown over the shoulder of a rather large man then being carried off. "Let me go, damn it! Let me go! HELP!" she screamed kicking and smacking her fists against the stranger's back.

"Oh shut up!" the stranger said rudely then hit her over the head causing her to lose consciousness.

"HOLLY!" Jack screamed horrified. He fought against the gate to open it and when it finally did Holly and the stranger were out of sight. Jack looked around frantically searching for her when he spotted something on top of the hill. He raced to it only to see Zero laying then crying. "Zero." Jack said placing a boney hand on the dog's head. The dog looked up at his master pitifully. "Please. Where is Holly?" The dog did his best to rise, but he was just to hurt. "Go home Zero and tell Sally what happened." Jack commanded and without waiting for the dog to go he raced off in the direction he saw Holly being carried off to. He ran as fast as he could, but instead of catching up to them he ran strait into something else causing both persons to fall to the ground.

"Ow!" he heard someone say "Sorry about that." Jack looked at the young man who had spoke to see that it was Barrel. "I wasn't looking where I was going." Barrel continued then offered his hand to Jack.

Jack stood faster then possible and grabbed Barrel by the collar and glared at him asking in a dangerously low and quiet voice "Where is Holly?"

"What are you talking about?" Barrel said as best he could. "She's on Spiral Hill!"

Jack let him go and said "I just saw a strange man take her and carry her this way."

Barrel turned pale "What did he look like?" he asked.

Jack looked at him and said "I didn't see his face, but he had a burlap sack for an arm."

Suddenly and without warning Barrel turned from pale to red in a matter of seconds "That bastard!" he cried. "I'm gonna kill him!"

He was about to go, but Jack stopped him "What do you mean? Do you know who that was?"

Barrel sighed and said "I'm sorry, Jack it wasn't supposed to be like this."

"Where the hell is my daughter?" Jack yelled at him grabbing him around the neck.

Barrel wriggled his way out of the hold and said "I'm so sorry. They went back on our deal, I'll tell you everything."

Holly awoke with a headache and when she tried to rub her head, she found that her hands were tied above her head. "What?" she asked nothing in particular and was a bit startled when someone answered her.

"_Well, well, well what have we here, Holly Skellington huh? Oooo I'm really scared. So your Bone Head's little girl. Ahahahaha! You're jokin' you're jokin' I might just want to hurl! You're jokin' me you've gotta be this cant be the right girl! She's stupid, she's easy I don't know which is worse! I might just split a seem now if I don't die laughing first. Oogie Boogie Jr. say's there's trouble close at hand you better pay attention now cause I'm the new Boogie Man. And If you aren't shaken there's something very wrong cause this may be the last time you hear my daddy's song. Whoa (Whoa) Whoa (Whoa) Whoa (Whoa) I'm the new Oogie Boogie Man!_"

"Let me go you bag of bugs I demand that you release me. You'll find me harder to depose of just wait and watch, you'll see."

"_You're Jokin' you're jokin' I can't believe my ears! Would someone shut this girly up! I'm drownin' in my tears! It's funny I'm laughing! You really are to much and now with your permission I'm going to do my stuff!_"

"What're you going to do to me?"

"I'm gonna do whatever I can! _WHOOOOOOOOOA! The sound of the dice to me is music in the air, cause my daddy was a gamblin' Boogie Man! Although he didn't play fair! He had confessed that it was fun with lives on the line! Now I'd have to say that he was right now isn't that just fine!_"

"Damn it I said let me go, or severe trouble you will know."

"_Oh brother you're somethin' you put me in a spin! You aren't comprehending the position that you're in! It's hopeless you're finished, you haven't got a prayer! Cause I'm the new Oogie Boogie man and you ain't goin' nowhere!_ _HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_"


End file.
